PLANET EARTH II may have been hailed as a monumental triumph for the BBC by viewers, but Springwatch presenter Martin Hughes-Games has claimed otherwise.

The fellow BBC star has lashed out at the Sir David Attenborough programme, accusing the docu-series of presenting an "escapist fantasy".

"These programmes are still made as if this worldwide mass extinction is simply not happening,” he wrote in The Guardian.

"The producers continue to go to the rapidly shrinking parks and reserves to make their films - creating a beautiful, beguiling, fantasy world, a utopia where tigers still roam free and untroubled, where the natural world exists as if man had never been."

Hughes-Games also suggested the show lured audiences into a “false sense of security”, adding that "no hint of the continuing disaster is allowed to shatter the illusion."

David Attenborough's Planet Earth II

An African bull elephant swishes his trunk at the carmine bee-eaters following him through the grassland of Botswana

no hint of the continuing disaster is allowed to shatter the illusion

Springwatch presenter Martin Hughes-Games

"Even as Planet Earth II was being broadcast, it was reported that elephant and lion numbers were tumbling, and last month it became clear that the giraffe could be heading towards extinction, with numbers plummeting by 40 per cent in the past 15 years," he fumed.

Though, Planet Earth II closed with a chilling speech from Attenborough, in which he encouraged viewers to “do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth".

While Hughes-Games acknowledged that programmes such as Planet Earth are vital for television, he stressed that fantasy should be balanced by reality".

BBC

Planet Earth II captures rare scenes of some of the world's most extraordinary wildlife

BBC

David Attenborough called for viewers to protect 'all life on earth'

"It has been wonderful watching Planet Earth II,” he admitted. “What a glorious, spectacular and fascinating series... We have surely never been so close to the action and never have the pictures looked so luxurious."

Planet Earth II was honoured with being crowned the most watched nature series in 15 years, and beat The X Factor, according to ratings, among younger audiences.